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Manuscript Group 370

UNITED BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS AND JOINERS OF AMERICA. LOCAL 313

Records, 1903-1989
8 cubic feet


The records of the Moscow-Pullman Carpenters Local 313 were donated to the University of Idaho Library by union member Bob Thyberg in January 1991. They were processed by Judith Nielsen in January 1995.

HISTORY

Carpenter's Union Local 1605 was chartered in Moscow, Idaho on April 8, 1903, while eight miles to the west, and across the state line, Carpenter's Union Local 313 was chartered in Pullman, Washington, on May 1, 1903. The two unions remained separate until April 1957 when they combined, retaining the 313 number.

At its strongest membership of the union rose to 475 paying members, but by 1981 this had dwindled to just 100. In addition to serving union men, the local also sponsored an apprenticeship training program which was training 12 young men in 1981.

In 1954 the locals voted to affiliate with the Spokane District Council. Most of the work in the area was Union, but there were still problems. Each legislative session had seen an attempt to pass "right to work" legislation which required many hours of work by union members to defeat. Little Goose and Lower Monumental dams on the Lower Snake River are in Local 313's jurisdiction and were union built.

At the conclusion of World War II the landlords in Moscow refused to rent the local a hall in which to hold meetings. For nearly two years meetings were held in homes, garages, and shops belonging to members. A rental hall was leased in 1947, and occupied until 1969. In that year the union purchased the property of Merton B. Waterman at 308 South Asbury for $16,000. Then in 1961 it purchased from Harold and Dorothy Berg their property at 325 West Third for the sum of $25,000. In 1969 three adjacent lots belonging to Jennie M. Waterman and Everett M. Lynn were purchased for $16,000. In 1962 the Moscow Chamber of Commerce awarded Local 313 a plaque in recognition of the improvements made on the property, which included, expansion, upgrading, and the construction of a paved parking lot. The hall also provided meeting space for Boy Scouts, Campfire Girls and other craft unions.

The ladies auxiliary met until 1972 when the four remaining members voted to surrender their charter.

SCOPE AND CONTENT

The records of Carpenters Union #313 and #1605 span the years 1903 to 1989, with the bulk of the material covering the years 1940 to 1979.

The records include administrative material such as minutes of meetings, financial records, and constitutions and bylaws, as well as correspondence, publications, and other material of a general nature. Also included are the records of the ladies carpenter auxiliary.

Most of the records are for local union 313, both before and after it combined with local 1605, but some of the records are for LU 1605. Records not identified with a local number are for 313, the records for LU 1605 are so identified.

ARRANGEMENT AND DESCRIPTION

Some material in this record group was in labeled folders, but most was loose in the boxes. The basic received order was retained, and with very little rearrangement could be easily divided into three series, Administrative Records, Alphabetical Files, and Ladies Auxiliary.

The Administrative records, 1903-1987, include constitutions and bylaws for local, district, and the national union, minute books for Moscow local 1605, treasurer's records, financial secretary's records, and the abstract of title for the Asbury & Third Street property. The day books record the names of members, dues paid, and union expenses. A few books for LU 313 are lacking, and in some cases there are two books covering the same period, but there is no duplication of information, and no explanation has been found for this anomaly. Duplicate deposit slips, which are normally discarded, were retained in this collection since deposits were not entered in the check register, nor are they listed in the monthly expense books. Bank statements and paid checks were also retained when check registers were not present. The monthly billings, 1973-1987, are computer generated lists of members the last page of which lists the number of members for the month and the amount due national headquarters.

The Alphabetical files, 1910-1989, include agreements, applications for membership, information on the apprentice program, building fund data, correspondence, information on the consolidation of LU 313 and LU 1605, personnel material such as hiring and job referrals, and publications such as the quarterly newsletter. The CCG and CCD notebook appears to be a monthly membership record listing applications, initiations, withdrawals, deaths, etc. The steward's reports are weekly reports by the steward for each job listing the men working and how many days each worked. The reports for 1963 were not in any order, but the ones for 1979-1984 were in order by job. The "Current Jobs" notebook is an alphabetical list of jobs with the names of the men sent, while the "Dispatch Record Book" is a chronological listing of men sent to the jobs. The "Password and Quarterly Circular" is a newsletter published by the national headquarters containing general union news and a numerically coded password to be used for entry to meetings. Although the collection contains issues from 1938 to 1983, there are very few issues prior to 1968. The work dispatch orders were very numerous, and since the information is available in other forms, these were sampled by keeping every 10th item. The final item in this series is what appears to be the hiring hall registration book, 1970-1989. It is an unbound volume containing over 394 pages, each containing the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of union members seeking employment. Notations are made by some names as to where the person was sent to work, if an exam has to be taken, and other similar information.

The final series contains the records of the Ladies Auxiliary, 1926-1972. These are in the same order as the union records, and include constitutions, directories, financial records, applications or membership, correspondence, and newsletters.

Among the items removed from the collection were multiple copies of printed by-laws, blank registration cards, invoices and utility bills, dues receipt books (dues and receipt number are entered in the Daybooks), and computer generated reports which included Washington, Idaho, and Montana unions. Copies of published Idaho labor laws were removed from the collection and will be checked against other holdings in Special Collections. In all the collection was reduced by 6 cubic feet

SERIES LIST

I. Administrative Records, 1903-1987 Boxes 1-5

II. Alphabetical Files, 1910-1989 Boxes 6-8

III. Ladies Auxiliary, 1926-1972 Box 8

UNITED BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS AND JOINERS LOCAL 313

INVENTORY

Box Folder Description Items

I. Administrative Records, 1903-1987

1 1 Constitution and by-laws of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners of America, 1929-1979 9 2 Constitution of the Washington State Council of Carpenters, 1950-1982 3 3 By-laws and trade rules, Moscow-Pullman local 313, 1936-1982 9 4 By-laws and trade rules, Moscow local 1605, n.d. 1 5 By-laws, Spokane District Council 14 6 Constitutions and by-laws of other locals, 1950-1963 5 7 Construction and industrial stewards' manuals, 1973 2 8 Trade rules of the Spokane District Council of Carpenters, n.d.-1968 2 9 Constitution and by-laws of the UBC Retirees Club, 1983 1 10 Ritual, n.d. 1 11-14 Minute books, Moscow Local 1605, February 1928-April 1957 4 15 Officers of LU 313, 1969; 1977 2 16 Abstract of title, property at Third and Asbury, 1961 1 17-23 Dues receipt books, 1903-1948 7 24-26 Dues receipt books, LU 1605, 1908-1947 3 2 27-28 Day books LU 1605, March 1948-April 1957 4 29-43 Day books, LU 313, 1903-October 1970 29 3 44-51 Day books, LU 313, January 1970-November 1983 15 52-53 Treasurer's cash books, 1903-1947 4 54 Social club of the Carpenter's Union, Cash book, 1919 1 55 Savings pass books, 1946-1957; 1978-1982 4 56 Savings account information (Building fund), 1976-1982 17 57 Duplicate deposit slips, October 1979-December 1983 6 58-59 Check stub books, July 1979-December 1984 4 60 Monthly expenses, check register, 1980-1984 2 61 Bank statements and paid checks: General fund and Payroll, 1980-1982 47 62 Relief and contingency fund, 1980-1982 47 4 63-64 Monthly billings, 1966-1987 2 5 65 Secretary's order book, 1944-1946; 1950-1951 2 66 Receipt book for strike assessment, 1962 2 67-68 Official notice of arrears, 1980-1984 11 69 Advertising board, POP reports, 1962-1986 25 70 Audit reports, 1980-1981 2 71 Bond reports, 1944; 1980-1981; 1987 5 72-76 Financial secretary's monthly reports, 1906-1946 37 77 Financial secretary's monthly reports, LU 1605, 1930-1938 6 78 Income tax form 990, 1978-1984 8 79 Labor organization annual report to Department of Labor, 1959-1986 30 80-83 Monthly reports of Financial Secretary, 1980-1983 47 84-85 Payroll records and tax returns, 1974-1983 60 86 Property tax receipts, 1961-1966 9 87 Treasurer's remittance blanks, LU 1605, 1927-1934 48 88 Trustees reports, LU 1605, 1923-1937 23

II. Alphabetical Files, 1910-1989

6 89 Agreements, 1954-1981 23 90 Changes and terminations, 1975-1983 6 91 Draft, 1977 1 92 Announcements of meetings, 1966-1983 51 93 Applications for membership, 1935-1946 5 94 Applications for membership, LU 1605, 1921 4 95 Apprentice advancement, 1967-1987 85 96 Apprenticeship agreements, 1965-1983 176 97 Apprentices training trust correspondence, 1968-1980 58 98 Joint apprenticeship and training committee minutes, 1960-1973 44 99 Attendance records for meetings, 1967-1981 2 100 Bonds for officers, 1959-1978 23 101 Building fund data and assessment, 1952-1973 30 102 Building related material, 1961-1973 13 103 Business agent file, 1964-1981 44 104 By-laws, Correspondence, 1957-1973 12 105 Carpenters strike, 1962 9 106 CCG and CCD, 1976-1985 1 107 Census of service industries report, 1977 1 108 Consolidation of locals 313 and 1605, 1957 5 109 Consolidation of locals 313 and 398, 1981 2 110 Convention in Moscow, 1980 15 111 Convention badge, n.d. 1 112-113 Correspondence, 1944-1951 180 114 Miscellaneous, 1910-1983 9 115 Current information, 1948-1951 20 116 Current jobs, 1979-1988 1 117 Death certificate on Carpenter's Union form, 1946 1 118 Dispatch record book, 1979-1988 1 119 Dues: Applications for retired or inactive, 1963-1983 55 120 Dispensation from dues, letters of request, 1982-1983 16 121 Nonpayment of, 1977-1983 127 122 Edward D. Jones. Building fund account, 1981-1987 15 123 Employment security, 1973-1987 4 124 Ephemera and forms, n.d. 13 125 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission report, 1969-1984 17 126-127 Financial Secretary correspondence file, 1968-1981 182 128 Financial secretary's information, 1964-1983 32 129 Hiring hall rules, 1968 2 130 History of Local 313 by Walt Schumacher, 1981 1 131 Human rights, 1973-1983 26 7 132 Idaho State AFL-CIO, 1980-1983 22 133 Executive Board meetings, 1980-1983 9 134 Inland Empire Carpenter, 1957 2 135 Journeyman's exam, 1976-1980 2 136 Jurisdiction disputes, 1928-1976 21 137 Jurisdiction lines between locals #313, #1482, and #398, 1959 2 138 Labor laws, 1972-1979 2 139 Medical excuses, LU 1605, 1916-1923 3 140 Members in service, 1946-1972 11 141 Membership lists, ca.1946 8 142 Membership lists, 1949-1950 6 143 Membership pins, Quarterly, 1974-1983 37 144 National headquarters: Communications, 1954-1983 55 145 Legislative department, 1977-1982 19 146 No rehire requests, 1971-1981 55 147 Non-discrimination, 1965-1973 8 148 Northeast Washington-Northern Idaho Building & Construction Trades Council, 1981-1983 12 149 OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Organization, 1973-1981 20 150 Password and quarterly circular, 1939-1983 72 151 Pension application approvals, 1965-1978 13 152 Pension benefit letters, 1968-1983 31 153 Photographs, 1957-1969 45 154 Picnic invitations, 1963-1983 12 155 Proceedings of conventions, 1946; 1948 2 156 Referendum vote on constitutional amendments, LU 1605, 1920 1 157 Referral slips, 1978-1979 3 158 Rent, 1967-1984 20 159 Requests for specific workers, 1967-1983 104 160 Resolutions, 1957-1978 19 161 Right to work laws, 1971-1982 13 162 Robbery, 1972 8 163 Roth, Pat: Correspondence file, 1978-1984 55 164 Spokane District Council: Correspondence, 1954-1983 95 165 Minutes of meetings, 1980-1983 25 166 Stationery, n.d. 3 167 Steward's reports, 1963 108 168 Pullman Memorial Hospital, 1979-1981 28 169 Halvorson & Berg, WSU, 1980-1981 33 170 Lamont's, Palouse Empire Mall, 1980 4 171 Kibbie Dome, 1981 15 172 Phi Gamma Delta, Moscow, 1982-1984 13 173 Termination notices, 1970-1980 78 174 Trust fund correspondence and payments, 1970-1983 82 175 Tussberg employment case, 1976 4 176 Washington State Council of Carpenters: Convention programs, 1986; 1989 2 177 Correspondence, 1968-1983 61 178 Work dispatch orders, 1984-1989 19 179 Withdrawal requests, 1962-1985 11 8 180 Hiring hall registration book, 1970-1989 1

III. Ladies Auxiliary, 1926-1972

181 Constitution and rituals, 1926-1967 10 182 Directories, 1964-1973 8 183 Bank savings books, 1930-1967 2 184 Check registers, 1930-1944; 1959-1966 2 185 Bank deposit slips, 1958-1966 2 186 Bank statement and paid checks, 1930-1932 1 187-188 Bank statements and paid checks, 1959-1972 82 189 Financial secretary's records, 1958-1968 4 190 Financial secretary's quarterly report of membership, 1958-1972 51 191 Treasurers receipt book, 1934-1938; 1968-1971 2 192 Applications for membership, 1959-1967 5 193 Convention calls and programs, 1970-1972 7 194 Correspondence, 1969-1972 12 195 Membership records, 1958-1961 2 196 Newsie of the Washington State Council of Ladies' Carpenter Auxiliaries, 1970-1972 4 197 Semi-annual Password circular, 1938-1969 10

mg370.htm / March 1995
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